Lithographic engraving process



Patented May 6, 1924.

UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ANTONIO JOSEPH BOEDEFELD AND MARCUS PAGE EXLINE, 0F DALLAS, TEXAS.

LITHOGRAPHIC ENGRAVING PROCESS.

No Drawing.

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that we, ANTONIO JOSEPH BOEDEFE-LD and MARoUs PAGE ExLINn, citizens of the United States, residing at Dallas, in the county of Dallas and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Imrovements in Lithographic Engraving rocesses; and We do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to the lithographic art and more particularly to a process of making transfer or original plates from which transfers or impressions on lithographic transfer paper can be made for the purpose of making the final press plate from which the lithographing is produced, the said transfer or original plates taking the place of the old style engravings on stone.

As a preliminary step in carrying out the invention a suitable style of lettering (the complete alphabet) is provided and the same may be engraved on stone in the usual manner or cast metal letters may be provided. As a further preliminary step there is, or may be, provided, on a separate lithographic stone, an ornamental design such as may be desired for a background in connection with the lettering in the finished job, as will hereafter appear, the design being made on the stone in the usual manner.

An impression on lithographic transfer paper is taken from the letters provided as above. As the letters do not spell out any Word, they are cut apart and the desired word or Words made up by pasting the necessary letters onto a plain sheet of transfer paper. This patched up wording is transferred to a sheet of grained zinc by placin the wording face down on the zinc and pul ing the same through a press in the usual manner, the ink leaving the paper and adhering to the zinc plate. The plate is then etched, the wording, however, being protected by finely powdered rosin or other suitable substance as will be readily understood. The plate is then ready for use and constitutes the original from which transfers are made to the press plate in the usual manner.

When a background is desired in connection with the wording the same is effected in the following manner: the wording on the zinc plate is brushed over with gum arabic or Serial No. 611,155.

' other suitable material and etching of the plate is deferred until later. An impression on transfer paper is taken from the background on the prepared stone beforementioned. This is laid face down on the Zinc plate over the said wording and pulled through a press in the usual manner. The ink from the background will adhere to the plate but not to those places which have been brushed over with gum arabic, that is to say, not to the letters or wording. After the background has been transferred in this manner, etching of the plate is effected in the usual manner, it being understood that the background as well as the wording will be suitably protected from the etching fluid. Th1e plate is now ready for use as an origina It will now be seen that the zinc originals take the place of the usual lithographic stone originals. The old or known lithographic process requires a complete engraving for each job or order and approximately from fifteen to thirty-five hours is required to complete the heads or lithographic stones. According to the present invention it is merely necessary to build up the desired wording from engraved lettering already on' hand as stock and the same is true of the backgrounds. Samples of backgrounds and lettering will be shown the customer and he has merely to indicate his choice. The zinc plate original can then be made up in a very short time as will now be understood, the time required being about three hours which includes the transfer from the original zinc plate to the press plate.

The invention enables lithographed letterheads and the like to be produced at about the cost of common printing and has other advantages which will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art.

The old or known lithographic process now takes a complete engraving for each and every order and approximately from fifteen to thirty-five hours to complete these heads, whereas our improved process reqires approximately one-half hour for the engraver to apply a gum or suitable material; one half hour for the transfer patching up, and not over two hours for the transfer making original and final retransfer.

It will be understood that our process covers the using of a lithographic engraved, and other alphabets, and the combined using of lithographic engraved alphabets, and

engraved hack-ground designs. The cutting apart and patching up of same in such a manner that the transferer Will not come in contact With the face of the transfer impression, which Will do away With the possibility of getting dirt and grease thereon, Which has previously prevented the use of alphabets in the lithographic business.

The cost will not only be less to the trade, but the time will also be much less for these engravings. Many changes in detail may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What We claim:

1. The method of making lithographic originals which consists in forming Words from previously made letters, transferring the Words so formed to a zinc plate, placing a background in connection with the transferred Wording by taking an impression from a previously prepared background and superposing it on the already transferred Words.

2. The method of making lithographic originals Which consists in forming Words from previously made letters, transferring the words so formed to a zinc plate, placing a background in connection with the transferred Wording by taking an impression on transfer paper from a previously prepared background and superposing it on the already transferred Wording, said wording being covered previous to such superposing to prevent the adherence of ink from the background thereon.

3. The method of making lithographic original which consists in taking an impression from stone on lithographic transferpaper, saidimpression being composed of letters, cutting up said letters and pasting them on a sheet of transfer paper to form the desired Wording, transferring the patched-up Wording to a sheet of grained zinc by placing the wording face down on the zinc, pulling the same through a press and Wetting the paper to cause the Wording to adhere to the zinc plate.

In testimony whereof We affix our signatures.

ANTGNSO JCSEPH BQEDEFELD. MARCUS PAGE EXLINE. 

